The complete list of ‘OK, Google’ commands

There’s a lot you can tell your Android phone to do. Yes, even “take a selfie.”

With Google Now, you can use voice commands to create reminders, get help with trivia questions, and, yes, even find out “what does the fox say?”

And, with the recent update from Google, the voice assistant’s reponse will sound more natural than ever. (Though, of all the voice assistants, Google Now was already the most natural-sounding one.)

If you can’t get enough of talking to your phone (or your AndroidWear watch), we put together a long list of OK, Google commands to help you get more done with just your voice.

Editors’ Note: This post was originally published in March, 2016 and has since been updated to include newly discovered commands.

OK, Google

There are two ways to say a command.

• With newer Android devices, just say “OK Google,” followed by a question or task. For example, if I wanted to know the weather, I could say “OK Google, what’s the weather like today?” and a few seconds later Google Now would provide the forecast.
• Tap on the microphone button in the Google search bar, and skip the “OK, Google” portion of the conversation. If the search bar isn’t on a home screen, swipe right from the primary home screen to see Google Now.

If “OK, Google” isn’t working for you, make sure that feature is enabled. Head to the Google Now app, go to Menu > Settings > Voice > “OK Google” detection.

The (almost) complete list of Google commands

We searched high and low for a complete list of “OK Google” commands, but came up short. So we put one together ourselves. Below is a list of commands we have verified work on Android. Odds are it’s not entirely complete, since Google did not share one with us — we asked.

If you know of a command missing from our list, please leave a comment and we will be sure to included it.

The basics

• Open [app name]. Example: “Open Gmail.”
• Go to [website]. Ex.: “Go to CNET.com.”
• Call [contact name]. Ex.: “Call Mom.”
• Text or Send text to [contact name]. Ex.: “Text Wife I’m running late.”
• Email or Send email. Ex.: “Email Wife subject Hi message I’m running late, sorry.” You can also add CC and BCC recipients.
• Show me my last messages. This will present a list of recent messages, and read them to you, giving you a chance to reply.
• Create a calendar event or Schedule an appointment. Ex.: “Create appointment Go on a walk tomorrow at 10 a.m.”
• Set an alarm for [specific time, or amount of time]. Ex.: “Set alarm for 10 a.m.” Or “Set alarm for 20 minutes from now.”
• Set a timer for [X] minutes.
• Note to self [contents of note].
• Start a list for [list name].
• Send Hangout message to [contact name].
• Remind me to [do a task]. Ex.: “Remind me to get dog food at Target,” will create a location-based reminder. “Remind me to take out the trash tomorrow morning,” will give you a time-based reminder.
• Show me my pictures from [location]. Ex.: “Show me my pictures from San Francisco.”
• Show me my calendar.
• When’s my next meeting?
• Where is my next meeting?
• Post to Twitter.
• Post to Google+
• Show me [app category] apps. Ex.: “Show me gaming apps.”
• Start a run.
• Show me emails from [contact name].

Search

• Basic search queries. Ex.: “Mountain bikes.”
• When is [special event]. Ex.: “When is the next eclipse?” or “When is Easter in 2018?”
• Define [word].
• Synonyms for [word].
• Etymology of [word].
• What is [phrase]? Ex.: “What is YOLO?”
• What’s the phone number of [business name]?
• What’s the weather like? Alternative phrases such as “Do I need an umbrella?” or “Is it going to be hot tomorrow?” will return weather forecasts.
• What’s the stock price of [company name or stock ticker]?
• Math calculations. Ex.: “What is 2.65 percent of 2,045?”
• Who is [person’s name]?
• Who is [person’s name] [mom/sister/dad]?
• Who wrote [book title]?
• Who invented [item]?
• How old is [person’s name]?
• How do I [task]? Ex.: “How do I make an Old Fashioned cocktail?” or “How do I fix a hole in my wall?”
• How tall is [person, landmark, building]?
• Show me pictures of [object or person]. Ex.: “What does Mount Everest look like?” or “Show me pictures of kittens.”
• What sound does [animal] make?

Navigation

• Take me home.
• Take me to work.
• What’s the traffic like on the way to work?
• Map of [city or specific location in a city]. Ex.: “Map of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.”
• Where is [business name or location]?
• Directions or Navigate to [address, name, business name, type of business, or other destination].
• How do I get to [destination] by [walking, bike, bus, train, etc.]?
• How far is [address, city, or other location]?
• Where is the nearest [business type? Ex.: “Where is the nearest fast-food restaurant?” or “Nearby gas stations.”
• Show me nearby attractions.

Entertainment

• Sports updates. Ex.: “Who are the Broncos playing next?” or “Did the Nuggets win last night?”
• Sports scores.
• Naming a sports team or athlete will bring up general information about the team or person. Ex.: “Steph Curry” or “LA Kings”
• Show me the trailer for [movie title].
• Play me a video of [random idea]. Ex.: “Show me a video of someone opening a can without a can opener.”
• Find out what song is playing. What is this song? or Who is this?
• Listen to [type of music, playlist, song, artist, album]. Ex.: “Listen to workout playlist.”
• Movie showtimes. What’s playing? or Movies nearby.
• If a song is playing, ask questions about the artist. For instance, “Where is she from?” (Android 6.0 Marshmallow)
• Play [X song] by [X artist] on Spotify.

Random tips and tricks

• Show me gift ideas for [holiday, special occasion].
• Give me a love quote.
• What does the fox say?
• Say “Metronome” to start a metronome.
• Ask for medical information. Ex: “What is a torn meniscus?”
• How many calories are in [insert food item]?
• When will my package arrive? (This assumes a tracking number is found in your Gmail account.)
• Do a barrel roll.
• Askew.
• Roll a die.
• Flip a coin.
• Play Pacman.
• What’s the loneliest number?
• Make me a sandwich.
• Beam me up, Scotty.
• What is your favorite color?

Control phone and adjust settings

• Take a selfie.
• Take a picture.
• Turn on my flashlight.
• Turn on/off [Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC].
• Find my phone. (You can do this on a computer using Chrome to find and play a sound on your lost phone.)
• Increase/decrease brightness.
• Increase/decrease volume.
• Set volume to [number].
• Mute the volume.

Travel

• Translate [phrase or word] to [language]. Ex.: “Translate ‘where is the bathroom?’ to German.”
• Show me [honeymoon, California, France, etc.] destinations.
• Looking for [food type, restaurant name].
• When viewing details for a restaurant, you can say “Show me the menu” to bring up a menu.
• What time is it in [city]?
• Currency conversion. Ex.: “How much is 100 Euros worth in dollars?”
• Is my flight on time? (Assuming your flight information is in your Gmail account.)
• Show me my flight info. (Again, assuming your flight information is in your Gmail account.)
• What does flight [airline and flight number] land/take off?
• How late is [business name] open?
• What time does [business name] open?
• Is [business name] open right now?
• To learn more about your surroundings, you can ask things like “What is the name of this place?” or “Show me movies at this place” or “Who built this bridge?”

Software That Seeks To Improve Battery Life

Nextbit has already disrupted the smartphone industry, but the software powering its OS aims to disrupt how a battery works.

We’ve all heard the little tips and tricks for increasing your battery life: turn off your wifi so your device isn’t searching for connections, close out any apps that run in the background, and according to one local teenager who apparently read it on Tumblr, just ask Siri for more power.

In the case of new software from a lesser-known player in the smartphone game, though, those tactics are old hat. Instead, Nextbit relies on proprietary software to actively increase the functionality of the device in order to lengthen battery output. The company won’t say exactly how this process works, but a post on the company’s blog gives a little bit of insight.

“In Q4 we will launch a new version of Nextbit OS that gets to know your habits and optimizes functions at the system level to ensure you get the most screen time possible. Just like with smart storage, we can apply this on top of the features Google has implemented in Marshmallow and even on what has been announced for N, compounding the power savings to offer you true peace of mind.”

Rather than relying on those lifehacks for battery function, Nextbit’s aim seems to be figuring out how users actually interact with their phones, and make adjustments accordingly. It could be something as simple as powering down slightly during times of the day when you’re less likely to use your phone, but at the same time, could be far more complex. One thing that is for certain is that Nextbit’s goal is to disrupt smartphone battery technology in a way that they compare to the market’s disruption of smartphone storage.

“Because battery technology has improved slower than other technology, the industry has relied on more efficient processors and larger batteries (What do you think is under all those 5.5”+ screens?) to do their dirty work. These steps do give you more battery life, but the improvement is only incremental. Nextbit will solve this problem a new way – once again offering performance beyond just what the specs say.”

HummingBad Malware Infects Over 10M Android Devices

In the world of malware, there’s some tricky games afoot. But a new malware called HummingBad is so bad that it’s almost a genius move by its developers.

Chinese ad tracking and business firm Yingmob has a legitimate business informing advertisers of how their efforts are resonating with consumers, especially on mobile devices. So someone at Yingmob had a great idea: “we already have access to these little Android phones, which is how we know if they clicked an ad…what if we write malware that makes it look like they clicked an ad, and then the advertisers will pay us even more?”

And that’s what happened. Yingmob unleashed HummingBad on more than ten million Android devices, most of which are owned by users in Asia, although some infected devices have been found in the US, Australia, and Europe. But how did it get there?

The usual suspects come into play. Sideloading content from a third-party app store is always a key gateway, as is clicking on links in emails or on suspicious websites. Getting rid of it, though, is problematic; first you have to figure out that you have it, and so far, the only key indicators are things like an unusual amount of data usage, or apps appearing on your phone that you don’t remember installing. If you do have reason to believe HummingBad is in there, basically just wiping your phone to factory settings and starting over is the only avenue for removal right now.

From there, prevention is the best medicine. Stop downloading and clicking without fully understanding what you’re getting and who provided it. Unfortunately, it can be tempting to think that HummingBad isn’t causing you any real harm since the money is being made off of advertisers, but it does infect the root kit on your device, meaning it can theoretically dump all of your sensitive information into the hands of the creator who wrote it.

 

Avast Buys Out Riva AVG For Reported $1.3 Billion

Prospective deal means Avast could become world’s largest antivirus company in the world.

‘We are in a rapidly changing industry, and this acquisition gives us the breadth and technological depth to be the security provider of choice for our current and future customers,’ said Avast CEO Vince Steckler in a blog press release on the Avast website announcing the news

The new merger will give Avast access a combined total of over 400 million devices running both companies’ software. Crucially, as the market shifts increasingly toward more mobile orientated hardware, the takeover will mean that that Avast will have software running on around 160 million phones and tablets, the company reported earlier this week.

Of course, both companies are perhaps known best to the wider world for their free antivirus and anti-malware software currently available for Windows PCs, Macs and Android devices. However, both companies also sell “Professional” versions of the same software with additional features. Both companies also feature Internet security applications for business.

Steckler also said:

“Both are innovators with world class R&D teams. Both have most of their users outside of their home Czech market. Both have had similar user bases for many years: about 200M each. And most importantly, both treat their users with respect and consequently each has a large and loyal user base. One slight difference though is that while Avast is a private company, AVG is public and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In spite of this one difference, these companies are so similar that it is only natural that they be combined and that is what we are now planning on doing.”

The merger also means that Avast could potentially overtake the current market leader Microsoft, who have an anti-malware market share of 15.9 percent, which would also make it the largest antivirus company in the world.

What’s new with widgets in iOS 10

Widgets are getting a big upgrade in iOS 10; here’s what you need to know.

Apple’s use of the term “widgets” may not match what Android users consider a widget, but at the end of the day the two distinct approaches serve the same purpose: To provide snippets of information at a glance.

With iOS 10, widgets are still displayed in the Today view, and can still be accessed by sliding down the Notification Center and swiping to the left.

However, you can now access widgets in more places and they can and (eventually) do more.

More than just notifications on your lock screen

As we’ve already covered, iOS 10’s lock screen has completely changed. Beyond the new unlocking method, you can now swipe to the left to view your widgets. Using this same gesture, you can view widgets to the left of your main home screen on an unlocked device.

On an iPhone, a single column is put on display, while on an iPad there’s now two columns of widgets. You can edit the left and right side, or the single column but scrolling to the bottom of your widgets and tapping on Edit. Select the green “+” icon to add a widget, or the red “-” to remove one. Tap and hold on the three lined icon to put your respective widgets in order.

When you attempt to view a widget where personal information can come into play, such as the Activity widget, you will need to place your finger on the home button to unlock your device. Notice, you don’t actually press the home button to open the home screen. With your device unlocked, information in the Activity or Find My Friends (just two current examples) will fill in.

3D Touch

Beyond iOS 10 widgets hiding just off the left side of your screen, apps that have been updated for iOS 10 can now show a widget when you Force Touch on its icon.

Pressing on an app icon reveals the standard shortcuts, plus a widget regardless of whether or not you’ve added it to your curated list in the Today View.

If you haven’t added a particular widget but want to, you can tap on the “Add widget” button when viewing it.

Streaming video, interaction and more!

 

Now that we know how to access widgets in iOS 10, let’s talk about just what you can do with widgets.

While viewing your widgets, you will notice a button in the top-right corner of some widgets that says “Show more.” Selecting it will expand the widget. For something like the Calendar widget, you’ll see more of your upcoming agenda, whereas the Weather widget will show you the week’s forecast along with current conditions.

During the iOS 10 announcement, Apple used a sports app to demonstrate viewing stats for a basketball game and video highlights directly within the widget. This is an area of iOS 10 that will undoubtedly grow in feature set shortly after iOS 10 officially launches and as developers are able to push updates to the masses. We are keeping an eye on additional functionality and creative ways developers are going to take advantage of the new widgets.